john the little merman
by gambits princess
Summary: the tale of the little mermaid featureing the boys of baker street. * this is slash/ metions of mystrade as well *
1. Chapter 1

It all started on a dark and stormy night. Sherlock was helping Mycroft with a boat chase on the Thames. normally Sherlock wouldn't lift a finger to help his snooty older brother but Mycroft had flattered the younger mans ego which, a tactic Sherlock always fell for. The case had been simple enough and the brothers were on their way to land when the storm suddenly took a turn for the worst. water rose high and splashed onto the deck of the ship and caused Sherlock to lose his balance and fall over board into the turbulent waters.

The water was ice-cold and Sherlock began to panic as his limbs locked up out of shock and he slipped under. Sherlock was smart enough to hold his breath while he could but he couldn't hold it forever. The water stung as it made its way into Sherlock's nose and lungs. Sherlock had a brief thought of who would tell what had happened before his world went black.

Sherlock wasn't expecting to open his eyes ever again, nor was he expecting to see a halo of blonde hair when he did. The next thing he noticed was the sound, a sound so warm and kind that he almost believed he had died and gone to hevan. Suddenly the sound was drowned out by a hacking so brutal it took Sherlock a moment to realize it was coming from his own throat. Finally after minutes of aching Sherlock caught his breath and took a good look at the man who had saved his life.

sadly the water from the Thames was causing his vision to appear blurry and Sherlock found that the most he could make out was the blonde hair upon the mans head. Sherlock opened his mouth to speak only to close his mouth in surprise upon hearing a voice that sounded like his brother. He looked towards the area of the sound a spotted Mycroft and waved, quickly he turned back around to thank the man for saving his life but he was nowhere to be seen. Sherlock, for a very rare time in his life, had no idea what had happened.

It was hours before Sherlock awoke again. He was surprised to find himself in a hospital bed with his brother and inspector Lestrade sitting beside him. snatching the many wires attached to his skin, Sherlock stood and began to strip himself of the required hospital gown. " Sherlock what the bloody hell do you think you're doing!?" inspector Lestrade yelled as he and Mycroft tried to push the younger man back into bed. Sherlock had no intentions to listen to the fretting pair but thought better of it when dizziness set in and he all but fell into the bed.

Mycroft set on the bed and pulled covers over his younger brother as he began to speak, " what are you thinking Sherlock? you fell in the Thames, they have to be sure your ok. you know how dirty that water is." Sherlock rolled his eyes but responded none the less " i am perfectly Mycroft however, i need to go as quickly as possible.". " go where Sherlock?" Mycroft asked watching his brothers face carefully, something was different in his eyes. Sherlock paused, aware that what he was going to say next was highly out of character for him but true never the less, " i... someone pulled me out. i was drowning and a man pulled me out of the water and saved me."

Lestrade was the first to respond, " Sherlock there was no one their, you just got lucky and washed up.". Sherlock glared at the grey-headed man " i saw him! you know me very well inspector, therefore you should take my words to heart, someone, some man pulled me out of the Thames and drat it all i need to find him!". Lestrade mouth hung open before he snapped it shut and nodded. It was true that Sherlock was rarely wrong so if he said someone pulled him from the water than some did. "ok." Lestrade began " did you see his face? i could have Anderson draw up a police sketch.". Sherlock sneered at the mention of Anderson but answered honestly, " all i remember was that he was blonde, and that he sung like an angel."

Mycroft starred on quietly, he had never heard Sherlock give anyone a compliment in his life. Suddenly Mycroft knew what the new look in his brothers eyes was, it was the same look inspector Lestrade had in his eyes on their one year anniversary. The anniversary had been very eventful and at one point Mycroft had feared the inspector was going to leave him, instead Lestrade had told him he loved him for the first time. Love, his brother was in love, with a complete stranger that they had a snowball's chance in hell of finding but Mycroft knew they had to find this mystery man. Mycroft had to see this man himself, the man who not only saved his brother's life but had also manged to defrost his heart as well.


	2. Chapter 2

John lazed across a long flat rock sticking out of the sand at the bottom of the Thames as he thought of the two men who had yelled and carried the man he had saved away, supposedly to safety. John had felt a strong urge to follow and protect the man but knew he couldn't. John had watched them from the water untill the three men were out of view and then slid slowly back into the water. The water felt like a never-ending chain to john, always holding him back from so many experiences.

He couldn't stand how dark it was below the water, how murky and cold it always was. He longed to feel the sun on his skin, to experience a world he had never known and most recently to meet someone other than his family. His thoughts seemed to focus on that dream and all he could see behind his closed eyelids was the man. He had seen the stranger fall in and had reached him as soon as possible and headed for land. The man had been beautiful, a pale, tale and angular man.

John found him self thinking he would do anything to catch the mans eyes but how could they ever live happily ever after if they couldn't even co-exist in the same world. Suddenly a glimpse of black caught his eyes and he snapped into a defensive position ready to strike. " Now now, little fellow there's no need for alarm " whispered the merman who had caught johns eyes. " who are you? " john asked a bit louder than needed.

The other merman smirked as he replied, " well I'm your last hope at happiness.". John wasn't sure what it was but he didn't trust the man in front of him but reluctantly as what the other man meant by his comment. " well it's quite simple. i happened to be passing by when you pulled that man to safety and i couldn't help but notice the longing in your eyes as you had to leave him among his own kind." the darker merman started " i can help you, if you'd like, the names Moriarty.". John huffed out a response " John, and how on earth can you help me ?" .

Moriarty began to circle john as he spoke in hushed tones, " well, i am no ordinary merman my dear little one, i have powers beyond your belief and with them i can grant you the means to get your hearts desire.". John was silent for a long moment, he knew better than to trust the wicked looking man but at the same time he didn't know what he had to lose if he did. " fine." John started " how can you do that? and what do you ask in return? pearls? fish?". Moriarty tipped his head back and laughed, a hollow sound filled with venom.

" i do not need pearls, nor do i need someone to catch food for me. no, what i want is something much more valuable." the darker man whispered out, " i want your soul. ". John gasped and yelled " are you insane? how could i give you such a thing and still get my hearts wish. without my soul i would wish nothing. ". " this i am aware of, which is why you have a chance to keep your soul and your wish free of charge" Moriarty replied softly with a smile, " i will give you two days to woo this man and if you succeed you may keep your soul and i will never bother you again." John tried to keep a level head as he asked the all important question " whats the catch?". This called Moriarty to give a broad grin revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth as he spoke.

" ah you are a smart one aren't you? my catch, is simple, nothing to difficult for someone with a pretty face like yours" Moriarty replied, " i simply need that you lend me your voice for two days. if you can woo this man of yours in two days with no voice into loving you i will return your voice and keep your soul.". John thought hard but quickly before making a decision, " if i fail you get my soul." . Moriarty nodded and smiled as john moved closer to him. " ok then you have a deal." John whispered before he could change his mind.

" very well then dear." Moriarty pulled a contract from out of thin air as he spoke, " sign here and then sing out your name and i shall be in possession of your voice. do not worry, i will keep it safe in this shell upon my neck untill it is returned to you.". John signed his name quickly and did as he was told. A light shown in the shell around Moriarty's neck and john knew then even without trying to, that he could no longer speak. " pleasure doing business with you johnny boy, now you best get going, you have untill sunset on the second day to make your man love you" Moriarty said with a snap of his fingers before he was gone.

Suddenly a black smoke enveloped johns tail and he felt as if someone was skinning him alive. When the smoke cleared john could see two legs where his flipper had been and began to kick harshly towards the surface. Luckily he reached the top quite quickly and breathed in a deep gust of air as he pulled himself out of the water and onto land before promptly passing out in a nearby alley.


	3. Chapter 3

John could hear voices around him but all he could see was darkness, for a moment he wondered if he was still in the water. Suddenly he felt a cool towel against his head and slowly opened up his eyes. He recognized the man leaning over him as one of the men who had carried the curly-haired gentleman to safety. " He's awake! " the man above him called out to the room.

Three faces appeared in his line of vision. The man in the far right of his vision gained all of his attention, it was the curly-haired man he had saved, the man he had been instantly attracted to. The gray-haired man was in the middle holding the cloth to his head and whispering to him. John tried to pull his thoughts away from the man he had rescued and listen to the older gentleman.

" hello, are you all right?" the gray-haired man whispered. John opened his mouth to reply but only air came out and he closed his eyes in dismay. He was starting to regret his deal with the mer-worlock, how on earth could he communicate let alone get that curly-haired stud to fall for him without a voice. The older man stared at him for a moment and then suddenly asked one of the others ( a red-headed gentleman on johns left ) to retrieve a pen and paper.

" ok here ya go, just write what ya need to say. " the man said as he handed the items over to john. John took the paper and pen writing the only things he knew for certain. The older man looked at the paper and read it aloud, " hello, my name is john, i can't speak, where am i and how did i get here? ". The man smiled at john as he replied " hello john, i'm inspector Lestrade, my friend mycroft and i found you when we returned to the dock to see if we could find our friends scarf. we found you in an alley instead".

The man handed the paper back with the question of how john had ended up in the alley. Not knowing how to respond john simply wrote down that he didn't remember. Lestrade checked him over best he could after that and seemed assured that john was unharmed but insisted the man come to the department for questioning. John however shook his head no quite hard, refusing to budge from the soft surface he was lieing on.

It was then that he spoke, the handsome stranger john had given up his voice for a chance with. " leave him be Lestrade, he can stay here tonight and when he is fully recovered from what must have been a traumatic experience judging by the way he's wrapped himself in the couch, i will bring him to the station myself.". Lestrade looked as if he'd protest but the red-headed man grabbed him by the arm and whispered something in his ear and soon the two left quietly together, leaving john alone with the curly-haired man. " the name is Sherlock Holmes, you're in apartment two-two-one-bakerstreet." Sherlock said in way of an introduction. john was about to reply by pen and paper when suddenly Sherlock began to speak again.

" you have lovely blonde hair, a man saved my life yesterday, he also had lovely blonde hair." Sherlock said has he stared quite hard at john. John held his breath and prayed the man would know it was him. Sherlock sighed, " but he had a beautiful voice while you have none.". John frowned, he suddenly feared there was no way he could make this man fall for him in two days.


End file.
